Monday, 27 October 2014

Heavens to Murgatroyd

'Heavens to Murgatroyd' is American in origin and dates from the mid 20th century.

The expression was popularized by the cartoon character Snagglepuss - a regular on the Yogi Bear Show in the 1960s, and is a variant of the earlier 'heavens to Betsy'.

The first use of the phrase wasn't by Snagglepuss but comes from the 1944 film Meet the People. It was spoken by Bert Lahr, best remembered for his role as the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz. Snagglepuss's voice was patterned on Lahr's, along with the 'heavens to Murgatroyd' line.

See more at https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080707123703AA9IoCE